OTHER VOICES

Privatized, community-based child welfare system a success story

Published: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 8, 2013 at 6:56 p.m.

Florida’s child welfare system is not without its challenges, however, we also have a lot to celebrate.

As a result of the privatization of the child welfare system in Florida, our state has become a national model of success. Since the system was created, there have been vast gains: increasing adoption rates every year; improved monitoring of children and families; and more availability and higher quality core services for children in everything from health care to educational opportunities.

All of this has been accomplished with a local community focus throughout the state and at lower cost than before the system was privatized, making Florida’s child welfare system a bargain for taxpayers and a blessing for children.

Currently, Florida is near the top in many significant areas of child welfare performance. Due to the success of the state’s transition into a community-based care (CBC) system, and the leadership of the Department of Children and Families and Secretary David Wilkins, the state has ensured nearly 14,000 children in the child welfare system have been placed in permanent homes.

Florida has consistently led the country in adoptions for the past five years, boasting almost 3,000 adoptions last year alone. Other areas in which Florida excels include, but definitely aren’t limited to, visiting every child each month, reducing the time children wait for adoptions and reducing the number of children in nonfamily care.

The state of Florida’s child welfare system and the opportunity to continue to improve the lives of children and families throughout the state is what led me to take the helm of the Florida Coalition for Children, a nonprofit organization that gives a voice to the various agencies and organizations throughout the state that work to improve the lives of Florida’s abused, neglected and abandoned children.

From the time the first pilot program creating a partnership between the state and local community agencies to deliver child welfare services was launched in 1996, there were immediate, positive changes to a system that for years had been riddled with problems. With the transition to the community-based system, in a relatively short period of time private providers were able to offer more in-person contact with children, lower the ratios of children per home, decrease caseloads, lower the average number of per-child placement changes and increase foster parent satisfaction.

Even with all of those incredible accomplishments, there are still more than 8,000 children throughout the state who are in desperate need of permanent homes.

Certainly there will be challenges along the way, as child welfare is an extremely challenging field. But, those challenges do not invalidate the vast gains that have been made since the community-based care system began, nor do they provide a sufficient case for upending a system that has been working so well it is regarded as a national model.

Lawmakers should continue to support the unique public-private partnership between the state and community-based care providers, knowing that it is the best way to ensure that Florida’s children receive everything they need, from appropriate health and dental care, a good education and safe, permanent homes.

Kurt Kelly is a former state representative from District 24 and a former Marion County School Board member. He now serves as CEO of the Florida Coalition for Children, which advocates for Florida’s abused and neglected children.

<p>Florida's child welfare system is not without its challenges, however, we also have a lot to celebrate.</p><p>As a result of the privatization of the child welfare system in Florida, our state has become a national model of success. Since the system was created, there have been vast gains: increasing adoption rates every year; improved monitoring of children and families; and more availability and higher quality core services for children in everything from health care to educational opportunities.</p><p>All of this has been accomplished with a local community focus throughout the state and at lower cost than before the system was privatized, making Florida's child welfare system a bargain for taxpayers and a blessing for children.</p><p>Currently, Florida is near the top in many significant areas of child welfare performance. Due to the success of the state's transition into a community-based care (CBC) system, and the leadership of the Department of Children and Families and Secretary David Wilkins, the state has ensured nearly 14,000 children in the child welfare system have been placed in permanent homes.</p><p>Florida has consistently led the country in adoptions for the past five years, boasting almost 3,000 adoptions last year alone. Other areas in which Florida excels include, but definitely aren't limited to, visiting every child each month, reducing the time children wait for adoptions and reducing the number of children in nonfamily care.</p><p>The state of Florida's child welfare system and the opportunity to continue to improve the lives of children and families throughout the state is what led me to take the helm of the Florida Coalition for Children, a nonprofit organization that gives a voice to the various agencies and organizations throughout the state that work to improve the lives of Florida's abused, neglected and abandoned children.</p><p>From the time the first pilot program creating a partnership between the state and local community agencies to deliver child welfare services was launched in 1996, there were immediate, positive changes to a system that for years had been riddled with problems. With the transition to the community-based system, in a relatively short period of time private providers were able to offer more in-person contact with children, lower the ratios of children per home, decrease caseloads, lower the average number of per-child placement changes and increase foster parent satisfaction.</p><p>Even with all of those incredible accomplishments, there are still more than 8,000 children throughout the state who are in desperate need of permanent homes.</p><p>Certainly there will be challenges along the way, as child welfare is an extremely challenging field. But, those challenges do not invalidate the vast gains that have been made since the community-based care system began, nor do they provide a sufficient case for upending a system that has been working so well it is regarded as a national model.</p><p>Lawmakers should continue to support the unique public-private partnership between the state and community-based care providers, knowing that it is the best way to ensure that Florida's children receive everything they need, from appropriate health and dental care, a good education and safe, permanent homes. </p><p><i>Kurt Kelly is a former state representative from District 24 and a former Marion County School Board member. He now serves as CEO of the Florida Coalition for Children, which advocates for Florida's abused and neglected children.</i></p>